Statement concerning the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation

May 5, 2016

The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) is an independent entity created by the General Assembly in 1974, General Assembly resolution 3251(XXIX), to support cooperation among developing countries.

UNOSSC receives its mandate and policy framework from General Assembly decisions and resolutions. UNOSSC also serves as the Secretariat of the High-level Committee (HLC) on South-South Cooperation, a subsidiary body of the General Assembly.

UNOSSC is hosted by UNDP and, as is the case with similar entities, is expected to follow UNDP rules and regulations, including those pertaining to financial and HR management. UNOSSC is likewise subject to UNDP’s oversight and due diligence instruments.

UNDP’s Office of Audit and Investigation (OAI) recently published an Audit of UNOSSC which rated the Office ‘unsatisfactory’.

The Audit makes 16 recommendations with the objective of improving UNOSSC’s effectiveness in the areas of: governance; programme and project activities; and operations.

Among the recommendations are that UNOSSC should ‘work with UNDP and other partners on clarifying its accountability and reporting lines.’

UNOSSC has initiated this dialogue in line with the management action plan outlined in the Audit.

Based on two of the recommendations, UNDP has taken steps to strengthen its oversight of UNOSSC, pertaining specifically to human resources and assessment processes.

Both these recommendations have been implemented in line with the management action plan outlined in the Audit.

As a member of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), UNDP takes performance effectiveness, accountability and transparency issues with utmost seriousness and will continue to ensure the highest standards are met in these areas.